Spring-loaded hold-down device



United States Patent 3,1563% SPRlNG-LQADED HOLD-DOWN DEVICE Leon C. Miiler, Bridgeport, and James A. Englund, Fairiield, Conn, and Francis Vecchiareili, River Edge,

NJ, assignors to National Distillers and Chemical Corporation, a corporation of Virginia Filed Oct. 2, 1961, Ser. No. 142,384 2 Claims. (Cl. 160-173) This invention relates generally to Venetian blinds, and more specifically to a new and improved device for bolding the bottom rail to keep the blind from whipping around in the wind and banging against the Window frame when the window is open.

The present invention is particularly designed for use with What are known as inside mount Venetian blinds,

in which the blind is disposed within the opening of the window frame in a plane lying between the jambs. One of the primary objects of the invention is to provide a new and improved hold-down device for the bottom rail of an inside mount Venetian blind, which does not require anchor brackets permanently mounted on the sill or jambs of the window frame, but instead, employs spring-pressed plungers at opposite ends of the bottom rail, having rubber bumpers on their ends that are pushed against the jambs with sufficient force to hold the bottom rail against whipping around in the wind. Means is also provided for retracting the plungers and latching them in the retracted position, so that the blind may be raised or lowered. The plungers may be released when the bottom rail is at any level merely by applying a slight side pressure against the rubber bumper on the end of the plunger.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide a novel and effective hold-down device for the bottom rail of Venetian blinds, in which a spring-pressed plunger is adjustable laterally to accommodate variations in the width of the window frame.

Another object is to provide a hold-down device for the bottom rail of a Venetian blind, in which a springloaded plunger is adjustable longitudinally to increase or decrease the amount of pressure exerted against the window frame so as to increase or decrease the holding power of the device according to the need.

A further object of the invention is to provide a holddown device of the class described in which the springpressed plunger may be locked in retracted position during the raising and lowering of the blind, and then quickly released by a slight lateral pressure applied against the projecting end of the plunger.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a hold-down device for the bottom rail of a Venetian blind, in which the bottom rail is freely tiltable while held down by the device. I

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof, referones being had to the accompanying drawing, wherein;

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a window with a Venetian blind mounted therein;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of one end of the bottom rail of the blind of FIGURE 1, showing a spring-loaded hold-down device embodying the principles of the invention;

FIGURE 3 is a side view of the hold-down device shown in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of the same;

FIGURE 5 is a partially sectioned view similar to FIGURE 3, showing the spring-loaded plunger in retracted and locked position; and

FiGURE 6 is a sectional view, taken at 66 inFlG- URE 3. p

3,156,294 Patented Nov. 10, 1964 ice FIGURE 1 shows a Venetian blind 10 mounted on the inside of a window frame 11 and comprising an enclosed headrail 12 from which depend ladder tapes 13 that support a plurality of vertically spaced, horizontally extending slats 14. The headrail 12 contains the usual Venetian blind hardware components for supporting the ladder tapes 13 and actuating the same to tilt the slats, as well as means for raising and lowering the blind, and holding it in any desired position. Attached to the bottom ends of the ladder tapes 13 is a bottom rail 15, which, in the illustrated embodiment, is in the form of a rectangular box beam, with outwardly bowed top and bottom sides.

Mounted in both ends of the bottom rail 15 are two spring-loaded hold-down devices of the present invention, each of which is designated in its entirety by the reference numeral 16. Each of the devices 16 comprises a U-shaped frame 17 having legs 18 and 19. The frame 17 is preferably stamped out of heavy gauge sheet metal, and riveted to the leg 19 is an end plate 20 having flanges 21 bent outwardly from the sides thereof, and tabs 22 bent out from its ends. The configuration of the end plate 20 is such that the flanges 21 fit snugly into the interior of the bottom rail 15, while the tabs 22 hook over the outside of the bottom rail on the front and back sides thereof, as shown in FIGURES 2 and 4. The end plate 20 conforms closely to the inside of the bottom rail 15, and thus forms a closure therefor. The flanges 2 1 converge slightly as shown in FIGURE 3, to facilitate insertion of the device into the end of the bottom rail.

Legs 18 and 19 are provided with aligned apertures 23 and 24, respectively, and end plate 20 likewise has an aperture 25 therein. Projecting through these aperture is a plunger 26, which is freely rotatable and reciprocable in the device except as limited in a manner to be described presently.

Near its outer end, the plunger 26 has a circumferential groove 27 formed therein, which presents an outwardly facing, annular shoulder 28. Beyond the groove 27, the plunger is reduced in diameter to form a stem 29, upon which is loosely mounted a cup-shaped rubber bumper 39. Between the bumper 30 and the shoulder 31 (FIG- URE 5) formed at the junction of the spindle 29 with the larger diameter portion of the plunger 26, is a back-up Washer 32. The bumper 30 is secured on the stem 29 by another washer 33 which engages the bumper on the side opposite the washer 32, and the washer 33 is retained on the stem 29 by a head 34 which may be formed by upsetting the end of the stem.

Coiled around the plunger 26 substantially concentric therewith is a compression spring 35, the opposed ends of which normally abut against both of the legs 18 and19 of the frame 17. A transverse pin 36 extends through a hole in the plunger 26, and the projecting ends of the pin pass between adjacent turns of the spring 35. The pin 3c is slightly longer than the vertical distance between the top and bottom walls of the bottom rail 15 in the vertical plane of the plunger 26, and the ends of the pin thus contact the walls of the bottom rail and are thereby prevented from turning beyond the position shown in phantom lines in FIGURE 6. However, when the device is removed from the bottom rail 15, the plunger 26 can adjusted in or out with respect to the plate 20, between the two extreme positions shown in phantom lines 30' and so" in FIGURE 4.

The pin 3% also connects the plunger 26 to the spring 35 so that inward pressure exerted against the outer end 3 of the plunger causes the pin to compress those coils of the spring lying between the pin and leg 18 at the left hand end of the frame 17. In FIGURE 5, the plunger 26 is shown in the fully depressed condition, and it will be noted that the coils of the spring between the pin 36 and leg 18 are tightly compressed, whereas the spring coils on the right-hand side of the pin are fully extended, and the right-hand end of the spring is drawn entirely away from the leg 19. The spring coils on the right-hand side of the pin 36 serve as a resilient bumper to cushion the impact when the plunger is unlocked and is allowed to snap out to its extended position.

The bracket 16 is inserted into the end of the bottom rail 15, with the parts in the relative positions shown in FIGURES 3 and 4. The plunger 26 may now be pushed in to the retracted position shown in FIGURE 5, where the circumferential groove 27 permits the plunger to drop down slightly, so that the shoulder 23 engages the flange 20 to lock the plunger in the retracted position. The plunger 26 is released by pressing laterally against the bumper 30 on the side where the shoulder 23 engages the flange 20, until the shoulder is dislodged from the flange, at which point the plunger is snapped out to its extended position by the spring 35.

Prior to final installation of the hold-down device in the end of the bottom rail, the plunger 26 is adjusted to extend the proper distance from the end plate 26, so that the bumper 30 is spring-pressed against the window frame 11 with suificient force to hold the bottom rail against being whipped around by the action of the wind against the blind. Thus, the bottom rail is eifectively prevented from hanging against the window frame when the window is open. Since the plunger 26 is rotatable with respect to the bumper 3t), and is located on the longitudinal axis of the bottom rail 15, the latter is free to tilt while the bumper is pressed against the window frame 11, and consequently the blind can be tilted without resistance from the hold-down device 16, and without the necessity of depressing the plungers 26. When it is desired to raise or lower the blind, the plunger is retracted and latched by grasping the bottom rail 15 and pushing the same endwise with the bumper abutting against the window jamb. The plunger 26 is pushed in by the jamb, and shoulder 28 drops down behind the edge of the hole 20.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the pressure exerted by the bumper 3t against the window frame 11 is determined by the extent to which the spring 35 is compressed, and this is governed by the relative position of the pin 36 with respect to the two ends of the spring 35. The plungers 26 of the two hold-down devices 16 at opposite ends of the bottom rail are normally adjusted so that when the bumpers 30 are pressed against the window frame 11, each of the plungers is pressed inwardly about one-quarter of an inch, thereby compressing the spring by that amount. The holding power of the devices 16 can be increased or decreased by adjusting the plungers so as to increase or decrease the amount by which the springs 35 are compressed.

While we have shown and described in considerable detail what we believe to be the preferred form of our invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the shape and arrangement of the several parts without departing from the broad scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

We claim:

1. A hold-down device for holding down the bottom rail of an inside mount Venetian blind with respect to the jambs of the associated window, said bottom rail being in the form of an elongated hollow box beam, said device comprising an H-shaped frame adapted to be inserted into the interior of said bottom rail at one end thereof, said frame including a pair of spaced apart legs and an end plate attached to one of them, said legs and said end plate having aligned apertures provided therein, a plunger rod passing through said apertures and both slidable and rotatable therein, said plunger rod being slidable between an extended position and a retracted position, a compression coil spring encircling said plunger rod and hearing at opposite ends against said spaced apart legs, a pin extending transversely through said plunger rod and passing between two adjacent coils of said spring, said pin being longer than the minimum inside transverse dimension of said bottom rail, whereby said pin is prevented by said bottom rail from turning in either direction beyond a limited angular distance, said plunger rod being freely rotatable when said bracket is withdrawn from said bottom rail, thereby causing said pin to follow said spring coils so as to adjust the longitudinal position of said plunger rod with respect to said frame, said pin being operable to compress those coils of said spring between it and one of said spaced apart legs when said plunger rod is depressed, said plunger rod having a circumferential groove formed therein adjacent its outer end, one side of said groove defining an annular shoulder which is engageable with said frame at the margin of one of said apertures when said plunger is retracted so as to hold the plunger at said retracted position, said plunger rod being released from said retracted position by applying side pressure on the outer end of said plunger rod in the direction to unseat said annular shoulder from said frame and position said annular shoulder to the exterior of said bottom rail, and resilient bumper means rotatably mounted on the outer end of said plunger rod and bearing against said window jamb when the plunger rod is extended, the angular relationship of said bottom rail being freely adjustable when said bumper means is in holding engagement with said window jamb.

2. A hold-down device for holding the bottom rail of an inside mount Venetian blind with respect to the jamb of the mounted window frame, said hold-down device comprising a bracket attached to one end of said bottom rail, a spring pressed plunger slidably supported on said bracket for movement between extended and retracted positions, bumper means rotatably mounted on the outer end of said plunger bearing against said window jamb when said plunger is extended, shoulder means completely surrounding said plunger at one end thereof, and means on said bracket engageable by said shoulder means when said plunger is retracted, whereby said plunger is held in said retracted position to permit raising and lowering said blind, said plunger being released and allowed to move out to said extended position by applying side pressure on the outer end of the plunger in the direction to unseat said shoulder means from said last named means and position said shoulder means to the exterior of said bottom rail thereby holding the bottom rail substantially stationary relative to the window frame, the extremity of said spring pressed plunger being rotatable within said bumper means to permit freedom of angular adjustment of said bottom rail when the bumper means is in holding engagement with said window jamb, wherein said plunger is in the form of a rod slidable between the extended and retracted positions, a compression coil spring encircling said plunger and having ends bearing outwardly against opposed portions of said bracket, and a pin extending transversely through said plunger rod and passing between two adjacent coils of said spring; said plunger rod being rotatable as well as slidable, said pin being longer than the minimum inside transverse dimension of said bottom rail, whereby said pin is prevented by said bottom rail from turning in either direction beyond a limited angular distance, and said plunger being freely rotatable when said bracket is withdrawn from said bottom rail, thereby causing said pin to follow said spring coils for the purpose of adjusting the longitudinal position of said plunger with respect to said bracket.

(References on following page) 5 References Cited in the file of this patent 2,181,101

UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 11,618 BUITOWS June 29, 1897 2 9 1 0 1,198,862 McCormack Sept. 19, 1916 5 1,704,472 Grandjean Mar. 5, 1929 2,003,006 Michelson May 28, 1935 221,110

6 Spenard Nov. 21, 1939 McDonald Sept. 30, 1947 Couture Sept. 26, 1950 Hansen Dec. 28, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS Australia Apr. 3, 1959 

1. A HOLD-DOWN DEVICE FOR HOLDING DOWN THE BOTTOM RAIL OF AN INSIDE MOUNT VENETIAN BLIND WITH RESPECT TO THE JAMBS OF THE ASSOCIATED WINDOW, SAID BOTTOM RAIL BEING IN THE FORM OF AN ELONGATED HOLLOW BOX BEAM, SAID DEVICE COMPRISING AN H-SHAPED FRAME ADAPTED TO BE INSERTED INTO THE INTERIOR OF SAID BOTTOM RAIL AT ONE END THEREOF, SAID FRAME INCLUDING A PAIR OF SPACED APART LEGS AND SAID END PLATE ATTACHED TO ONE OF THEM, SAID LEGS AND SAID END PLATE HAVING ALIGNED APERTURES PROVIDED THEREIN, A PLUNGER ROD PASSING THROUGH SAID APERTURES AND BOTH SLIDABLE AND ROTATABLE THEREIN, SAID PLUNGER ROD BEING SLIDABLE BETWEEN AN EXTENDED POSITION AND A RETRACTED POSITION, A COMPRESSION COIL SPRING ENCIRCLING SAID PLUNGER ROD AND PASSING AT OPPOSITE ENDS AGAINST SAID SPACED APART LEGS, A PIN EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY THROUGH SAID PLUNGER ROD AND PASSING BETWEEN TWO ADJACENT COILS OF SAID SPRING, SAID PIN BEING LONGER THAN THE MINIMUM INSIDE TRANSVERSE DIMENSION OF SAID BOTTOM RAIL, WHEREBY SAID PIN IS PREVENTED BY SAID BOTTOM RAIL FROM TURNING IN EITHER DIRECTION BEYOND A LIMITED ANGULAR DISTANCE, SAID PLUNGER ROD BEING FREELY ROTATABLE WHEN SAID BRACKET IS WITHDRAWN FROM SAID BOTTOM RAIL, THEREBY CAUSING SAID PIN TO FOLLOW SAID SPRING COILS SO AS TO ADJUST THE LONGITUDINAL POSITION OF SAID PLUNGER ROD WITH RESPECT TO SAID FRAME, SAID PIN BEING OPERABLE TO COMPRESS THOSE COILS OF SAID SPRING BETWEEN IT AND ONE OF SAID SPACED APART LEGS WHEN SAID PLUNGER ROD IS DEPRESSED, SAID PLUNGER ROD HAVING A CIRCUMFERENTIAL GROOVE FORMED THEREIN ADJACENT ITS OUTER END, ONE SIDE OF SAID GROOVE DEFINING AN ANNULAR SHOULDER WHICH IS ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID FRAME AT THE MARGIN OF ONE OF SAID APERTURES WHEN SAID PLUNGER IS RETRACTED SO AS TO HOLD THE PLUNGER AT SAID RETRACTED POSITION, SAID ROD BEING RELEASED FROM SAID RETRACTED POSITION BY APPLYING SIDE PRESSURE ON THE OUTER END OF SAID PLUNGER ROD IN THE DIRECTION TO UNSEAT SAID ANNULAR SHOULDER FROM SAID FRAME AND POSITION SAID ANNULAR SHOULDER TO THE EXTERIOR OF SAID BOTTOM RAIL, AND RESILIENT BUMPER MEANS ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON THE OUTER END OF SAID PLUNGER ROD AND BEARING AGAINST SAID WINDOW JAMB WHEN THE PLUNGER ROD IS EXTENDED, THE ANGULAR RELATIONSHIP OF SAID BOTTOM RAIL BEING FREELY ADJUSTABLE WHEN SAID BUMPER MEANS IS IN HOLDING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID WINDOW JAMB. 